Have you ever wondered if you can eat rats? No, if we are talking about an extreme situation, when the price of an action is survival, then this is not discussed. In such circumstances, eat anything. But in normal circumstances, most of us would probably refuse such a treat. This is explained simply, because the rat is considered one of the most vile and disgusting animals and it is very difficult to imagine it at ease.
Meanwhile, in the eyes of the inhabitants of Southeast Asia, this rodent is a completely normal food. Moreover, recently restaurants with appropriate exotic menus have appeared in some European countries. So it is quite possible that very soon we will see rat carcasses in the meat departments of our stores.
Culinary history of the rat
It must be said that the use of rats as a food product is not just a tribute to fashion or a passion for exoticism. Everything new, as we know, is well-forgotten old, and if most modern Europeans are disgusted by the mention of these rodents, then their ancestors used rat meat with great pleasure, for which there is a lot of reliable evidence.
For example, the residents of France have never been faced with the question of whether they can eat rats. The tradition of eating rats existed here already in the 19th century. They were fried over an open fire with the addition of shallots. Meat prepared in this way was considered an irreplaceable source of protein, and in the menu of the world-famous Parisian chef of that era, Thomas Genen, rat dishes occupied first place. In Medieval China, during Marco Polo’s visit to this country, rats were considered a delicacy and only came to the table of noble people.
Digging into the sources, you can find a lot of examples of voluntary eating of rats in circumstances that did not encourage this at all. True, over time, European civilization took a different path and abandoned such a diet. But in Asia, rats are still actively used in cooking and in some countries they are even considered a strategic food resource.
Caution - danger
Those lovers of thrills and exotic dishes who are seriously thinking about cooking a rat would do well to remind you that These rodents are active carriers of infectious diseases. Thus, it was the black rat, according to researchers, that in the 13th century provoked an outbreak of bubonic plague, which claimed the lives of 25 million people - the population of medieval Europe decreased by a quarter as a result of that epidemic. Today it is reliably known that rats are the source of 20 of the most dangerous diseases, for example, typhoid or Lassa fever.
Supporters of eating rat meat have their own counter-arguments to this. The fact is that The danger of infection comes mainly from urban rats. These rodents mostly live in garbage dumps, feed on waste and often come into contact with sources of all kinds of infection. Therefore, it is better to immediately abandon the idea of eating such a rat once and for all.
In the countries of Southeast Asia and Oceania, cooks use special rats that are caught in rice fields, where they live in dams near the water and eat organic foods. If we are talking about special restaurants that serve dishes made from rat meat, then the meat is supplied to them from special farms where rodents are raised in compliance with all necessary sanitary standards. So the risk of infection in this case is close to zero.
Traditions of rat cooking
So, with regard to whether it is possible to eat rats, everything is clear - the answer is yes. But what is the best way to prepare this unusual product in order to fully experience its taste? There are many ways. Most often, rats are, of course, roasted over an open fire. This heat treatment additionally disinfects the meat and serves as protection against all kinds of infections. In Latin America, for example, charcoal-roasted rats are served with chili sauce and are considered a delicacy.
You can also deep-fry rats, as cooks from Southeast Asia do. But experts recommend choosing younger individuals for such recipes, since the meat of adult rodents in this case turns out to be tough. In China, it is customary to boil rats. Particularly popular among local gourmets are noodles made from rat meat broth with the addition of various oriental spices: curry, turmeric, garlic, etc.
In the article I will talk about giant rats and the mysterious grask, which caused a stir on the Internet after an interview with a football player from the Belarusian Dynamo.
Wild rats are carriers of deadly viral diseases.
The direct danger posed by rodents for many centuries has developed a persistent attitude that is ingrained in the human brain.
People experience fear and hostility towards small animals, which is explained by defense mechanisms activated by genetic memory. The animals have become the heroes of many urban legends and compete with the famous alligators living in the sewers. Despite the fact that most of these stories are mere fiction, some rodents are truly amazing in their parameters.
The hero of the article is the graskat, a giant reed rat (grascutter cane rat) from Africa, whose weight is at least 6 kg.
Rats are able to adapt to their lifestyle and are not particularly picky about their living conditions.
Description and characteristics of graskata
Grascat living in captivity can reach 10 kg in weight and 60 cm in length, excluding the tail.
The rodent has:
- tiny round ears hidden under the fur;
- short and flat nose;
- developed hind limbs exceeding the size of the forelimbs;
- three-toed paws;
- bristly but smooth black-brown fur.
(gray) weighs no more than 400 g, and its body dimensions reach no more than 25 cm.
The lifespan of graskata in the wild is no more than 3 years, and careful care can extend the life up to 4 years.
Pasyuk, wild rat Cane rodents reach sexual maturity after 6-12 months. Every year, the female produces 2 litters containing 1-4 pups. Babies are born sighted and after a few days they show independence.
Rodent nutrition
The large animal is a herbivore.
His diet consists of:
- yams;
- nuts;
- elephant grass;
- corn;
- sugar cane, which gave it its name;
- wheat;
- fallen fruits;
- millet;
- greenery;
- cassava;
- millet
Because of its love for agricultural crops, the rodent is considered a dangerous pest that destroys crops.
To protect the plantations, local residents use the main enemies of graskata - mongooses and pythons.
The main defender against rats is the reticulated python. Habitat and purpose of graskata
The animal is distributed throughout the continent with the exception of:
- Sugars;
- southwestern part of South Africa;
- parts of the eastern countries beyond South Sudan.
Reeds love a humid and warm climate, so they live in swampy places or dense reed thickets located near water bodies.
Rodents breed during the rainy season, which lasts from October to the beginning of winter in the western part of the continent and all summer in the southern part.
Thanks to the irrigation of dry lands, animals received an additional source of food in the form of human plantations.
Graskats are characterized by:
- activity at night;
- love of water, expressed in skillful swimming techniques;
- living in grass nests;
- formation of groups with 1 male, several females and young animals.
Usually people don't really like these animals and consider them scary Rat on a platter
Let's return to the football player. When Joel Fameye was asked to name his country's exotic dishes, he said graskata without hesitation.
Africans consider cane pests to be a real delicacy.
Rodent meat is valued for its high protein content and low fat percentage, and also has a delicate and light taste.
Grascata is the name of the dish, not the animal itself.
Grascata - fried or stewed rats You will have to pay at least $100 for a fried animal.
Other types of giant rats
Having understood that graskata is a dish, it is important to mention its gender affiliation.
The reed is a rodent, but not every rodent is a rat. For example, the capybara is the largest representative of the rodent order, but it has nothing in common with rats.
Scientists classify reeds into a separate genus – Thryonomys.
Real representatives of the rat family, distinguished by their large sizes, include:
- Bamboo. Weighs 4kg and reaches 50cm in length. Lives in China, Southeast Asia and Cambodia. It feeds on bamboo and is considered a delicacy.
- Gambian. Weighs 1.5 kg and reaches 90 cm in length including tail. Lives in Africa. It has weak eyesight and a keen sense of smell, which allows it to detect mines after training. The African is similar to the hamster due to the presence of cheek pouches that allow the grains to be hidden during transportation.
- Bosavi. Weighs 1.5 kg and reaches 82 cm. Lives in New Guinea and is not at all afraid of people. The animal was discovered in 2009 thanks to the filming of a documentary film that took place in the crater of the volcano.
Bamboo rat 
Gambian 
Bosavi In conclusion, I note that in Russian realities you don’t have to worry about the invasion of giant rats and sleep peacefully.
There are reasonable fears about possible infection, but real phobias that bring indescribable horror at the sight of a pet dog require psychological help.
In China they say that you can eat everything that flies, except airplanes, and everything that floats, except submarines :)/>Although...somewhere (I don’t remember in which country) they say that you can eat ANYTHING!
And today I came across an article in a magazine - in continuation of the topic.
About mice and rats.
If you think that rats and mice were eaten only in besieged Leningrad, then you are mistaken. Rich Japan and quite prosperous China still eat them today. This behavior is dictated not by necessity, but by the desire to have fun. The Chinese are sure that newborn mice are delicious. They say that the meat of the mice is bitter and spicy, similar to European game. True, the way they are prepared makes us Europeans speechless.
This is a kind of “fondue a la mouse”. A candle, a Chinese samovar with boiling water and a cage with live three-day old mice appear on the table. They are placed in a deep dish with high edges so that they do not escape. And then they eat. They take a living and squeaking mouse by the tail, singe the fur over a candle, dip it in boiling water for a minute, then dip it in the sauce and into the mouth. They are eaten whole, with the head, paws and bones. But the ponytail is thrown over the left shoulder - according to legend, it drives away troubles.
(I felt sick from this recipe. I definitely wouldn’t be able to put a living creature in boiling water. It’s cruel...)
At least a hundred guests come to the Fu Huyayou restaurant near Canton every day for rat meat. Most often they order “rat in a pot” or whole fried rat, rat pilaf, rat soup and dried rodent. Regular customers say so. that this juicy red meat is similar to rabbit or pork, only brighter and more interesting in taste. At the same time, they are confident in its beneficial properties: it prevents baldness and promotes hair growth. It is not for nothing that more than half of the regular guests, according to the restaurant owner, are bald.
Hairy delicacy
In Peru, “kuy” (that’s what Peruvians call guinea pig, which is indecent to our Russian ears) has been eaten everywhere for almost thousands of years. Today, more than 90% of rural residents of Peru keep these animals on their farms - but not as pets, but for food. Guinea pigs reproduce extremely quickly, producing up to 10 babies per year. Thus, a successful farmer manages to get up to 40 kg of meat per year. According to statistics, up to 66 million cuya carcasses are eaten annually in Peru. It is best to try “cuy” in restaurants in the provinces, for example in Puno or Cusco. There is a chance to get the freshest meat, which just half an hour ago was running in the courtyard of the establishment.
Guinea pigs are boiled, fried and stewed. What Peruvians love most is this dish: a whole roasted, splayed guinea pig with frighteningly protruding teeth and a delicious crispy crust. They eat them with their hands because the crust doesn't cut well. Local residents eat the whole carcass, and even - to the horror of tourists - with the head. Pig meat is very nutritious, low in cholesterol and fat, and cheap - one pig costs about $8.
Well, for a snack - Royal rotten meat!
In China they are called “imperial” and are considered a very valuable and refined food. The process of preparing a rotten egg is very long and labor-intensive. For several months, the eggs are kept in a special saline solution with the addition of wood ash and lime. Then they are placed in clay mixed with sesame seeds and, as it were, “marinated” in it for some more time. During this time, the shell becomes a pure sky blue hue. The upper part is removed (usually this is done by the seller; these are the rules so that the buyer can verify the correct rotten “quality” of the product) - and a black, dense jelly-like white is discovered, and underneath it is a greenish yolk. This mass, similar to a fatty soufflé or jelly, tastes a little like dried fish with a smell: sharp, fragrant, pungent, slightly oily. The Chinese are delighted, the Europeans are horrified. The difference in cultures cannot be helped.
Illustration copyright Grant Singleton, IRRI
For many of us, the mere sight of these rodents causes disgust, but in some countries, rat dishes take pride of place on the menu.
If you've ever had rats in your house, you know very well: before you go to bed, you need to check if food has been left on the table or somewhere else. Otherwise, the night guests will not be slow to arrive.
The mere suspicion that you have rats is enough to trigger an attack of disgust and a complaint to municipal authorities - for example, New York recently returned to the war against these rodents, declaring a “rat crisis.”
Rats are more important than just food
However, such guests are not always considered uninvited. In some areas of our planet, rats are considered a delicious delicacy.
Every year on March 7, in a remote village hidden at the foot of the Himalayas in northeast India, the Adi tribe celebrates the spring Aran festival. The main dish of the holiday is rats; they can cook them here in different ways and to suit every taste.
The Adi people especially like a stew made from rat stomachs, livers, intestines and other entrails, boiled together with tails and paws with the addition of salt, chili and ginger.
In the tribe, any rodents are respected - both domestic rats and wild ones that live in the forest. Tails and paws are considered especially tasty, says Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow from the University of Oulu (Finland), who studied the food preferences of the Adi people.
Members of the tribe told the Finnish researcher that rat meat is the best, the most delicious.
“They told me: there is no holiday, there is no happiness if there are no rats. In order to properly treat an honored guest, a dear relative, or to celebrate an important event, there must be rats on the table.”
Illustration copyright Meyer-Rochow Image caption On a good day, the rat catcher's catch ranges from 30 to 100 rats.Rats are so loved here that they are more important than just food. “Rats (dead ones, of course) are given as wedding gifts so that the bride’s parents won’t be so sad when they see their daughter go to the groom’s house,” says Meyer-Rochow.
On the morning of the first day of the spring holiday, each of the children receives two dead rats as a gift - much like how children find gifts under the tree on Christmas morning in Western countries.
We know nothing about where this custom and the love for rats in general came from, but Meyer-Rochow is sure that this is an ancient tradition that is not at all associated with a lack of food or a paucity of choice.
-
Illustration copyright Image caption These rats were roasted whole and lightly soaked in a spicy sauce. They are eaten with cassava paste
However, rats as a dish are respected not only in the hidden corners of India.
British TV presenter Stefan Gates has traveled the world meeting people whose food preferences are very unusual. In Cameroon, he found a small farm raising cane rats.
“The size of a small dog, vicious little creatures,” he recalls. They may be evil, but they are so delicious! According to Gates, cane rats are something special, which is why their meat is more expensive than chicken.
What does it taste like? “This is the most delicious meat I have eaten in my life,” he says.
Rat meat is similar to pork, only much more tender. Stefan Gates, British TV presenter
Gates recalls that the rat meat was stewed with tomatoes. “It’s like pork, but much more tender—like slow-cooked pork shoulder,” he says. The unusually tender, delicious stew was juicy and moderately fatty, “literally melting in your mouth.”
In India, in the state of Bihar, Gates spent some time among the Dalits, members of the untouchable caste. The Indians call those he met rat eaters.
Dalits worked as harvesters for wealthy landowners in exchange for the right to eat the rats that lived in abundance in the fields.
Illustration copyright Grant Singleton, IRRI Image caption The smallest cane rat weighs more than 6 kgAccording to Gates, those little rats tasted like chicken or quail.
The only unpleasant moment was the smell of burnt wool - in order not to lose a single piece of meat or skin, the tiny animal was fried as is, whole, only singeing the wool.
This made the smell terrible, Gates recalls, and it added a bitter taste to the surface of the meat. “But the meat inside was excellent, very tasty.”
Delicious rat meat for your table
The history of eating rats dates back centuries. According to a scientific review from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (USA), in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), rats were eaten and their meat was called domestic venison.
One of the delicacies was considered to be newborn baby rats stuffed with honey, which were convenient to eat with chopsticks, the authors of the review write.
200 years ago, the Polynesian rat - a close relative of the common house rat - was widely eaten (especially in winter) by Polynesians, as well as Maori in New Zealand.
Illustration copyright Grant Singleton Image caption Freshly cooked rats are sold on the side of a highway north of Bangkok, Thailand.According to the New Zealand Encyclopedia, these rats were considered a delicacy, served when an important guest arrived, and were even used as currency, exchanged at all kinds of ceremonies, including weddings.
Rats are still eaten in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), parts of the Philippines and Indonesia, Thailand, Ghana, China and Vietnam, says Grant Singleton of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.
In Laos, farmers distinguish between at least five types of rats based on their taste.
Singleton admits to eating rat meat at least six times while in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.
And how does it taste? “In the case of field rice rat, it tastes like game, closer to the taste of rabbit,” he says.
Singleton also recalls eating rats in the highlands of Laos and in a Myanmar river delta. In Laos, he says, farmers in the north of the country distinguish at least five types of rats based on their taste.
Illustration copyright Prof S.R. Belmain, University of Greenwich Image caption A man anticipates pleasure as he prepares to eat a wild rat (Morrumbala, Mozambique)In Africa, some peoples have long-standing traditions of eating rats. In Nigeria, for example, the African giant rat is a favorite food among many ethnic groups, says Mojisola Oyarekuah of Nigeria's Ifaki-Ekiti University of Science and Technology.
“It is considered an exquisite delicacy, and its meat is much more expensive than beef or fish. This rat is eaten fried, boiled, and dried,” he says.
So why do people eat rats? Do they have nothing else to eat?
Having tried rat meat in different countries, Gates believes that people simply like the taste of it, and this is not at all due to the lack of other, “normal” food.
You probably won't be able to order rat meat at your favorite restaurant right now, but as our world becomes more of a global village, it's not hard to imagine that sooner or later rat dishes will find their way onto Western menus.
Give it a try. You might like it. After all, it’s not for nothing that those who have tried it claim that they have never eaten anything better!
The vast majority of the world's population views rats with disgust, but there are places where the rodent tribe is given pride of place on the dinner menu
Translation for – Evgeniy Yakovlev
The vast majority of the world's population views rats with disgust, but there are places where the rodent tribe is given pride of place on the dinner menu.
If you go to bed leaving something edible on the table or floor, rats may visit you without invitation. One glance at a rodent with a bald tail is enough to make you feel disgusted and start writing complaints to the housing office. But these gray guests are not despised everywhere. In some parts of the world, rats are considered a delicious delicacy.
Every year on March 7, in a remote village in northeastern India, the Adi tribe celebrates Uning Aran, an unusual holiday in which rats are the culinary highlight of the program. One of Adi’s favorite dishes is a roast called bul-bulak oing. It is prepared from rat offal, which is boiled along with tails and paws, adding a little salt, chili pepper and ginger.
This community welcomes rodents of all types, from the domestic rats commonly found in the home to wild species found in the woods. Rat tails and paws are considered particularly tasty, said Victor Benno Mayer-Rochow of the University of Oulu in Finland, who spoke with some members of the Adi tribe as part of his research on rats as a food source.
According to Mayer-Rochow, Adi consider rodent meat to be the most delicious and tender meat imaginable.
They told me: “There is no holiday without rats. Honoring an important guest or relative, a feast on a special occasion, all this is possible only if there are rats on the table.”
Depending on the number of traps, on a good day one rat hunter can catch between 30 and 100 rats.
Rats are valued here for much more than just food. “Rat gifts are given to the bride's relatives to make them happy to see her leave her family for her husband's family,” Mayer-Rochow says. On the first morning of the Uning-Uran holiday, called Aman-ro, children receive two dead rats as a gift and rejoice at them the same way European children enjoy toys at Christmas.
It is not known for certain how Adi developed such a passion for rats, but Mayer-Rochow is sure that this is a long-standing tradition, and it did not appear due to a lack of other food. Many animals - deer, goats and buffaloes - roam the forests surrounding the village. However, these tribes prefer rats. “They assured me that nothing compares to a rat,” he declares.
Even as a vegetarian, Mayer-Rochow dared to try the notorious meat, and found that it resembled other types of meat he had tried before, if not for the smell. “This smell revived memories of the first student laboratories at the Faculty of Zoology, where they dissected rats to study the anatomy of vertebrates,” the researcher shares his impressions.
These rats were fried whole, lightly dipped in hot sauce and eaten whole, with a side dish of cassava puree.
Rats are not only served for dinner in this remote corner of India. British TV presenter Stefan Gates traveled the world studying unusual food sources from different people. Not far from Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, he came across a farm of cane rats, a breed he described as "Like little dogs, vicious, angry little animals." Vicious, but delicious. Gates says these rats receive special care, which makes them more expensive than chicken or vegetables.
And what do they taste like? "It was the best meat I've ever tasted in my life," Gates said. He recalls that the meat was stewed with tomatoes and describes it as: “A little like pork, but very tender, like a slow-cooked pork shoulder.” Unusually tender, soft and tasty, the roast was “very meaty, juicy and with a pleasant layer of fat that melted in your mouth.”
In the Indian state of Bihar, Gates spent time among the Dalits, one of the poorest castes in India. Other residents called these people “rat eaters.” Dalits tended the crops of richer landowners of different castes in exchange for the right to eat the rats that harmed the fields.
One of the main breeds of rodents eaten in eastern and western Africa is the small cane rat, which can weigh more than 6 kg.
According to Gates, these small rats were very tender and tasted like small chicken or quail. The only unpleasant moment was the smell of burnt fur - to avoid losing even a small piece of skin, tiny animals are scorched on fire, burning the fur. And that creates a “horrible, terrible smell,” Gates says, “and a bitter taste on the skin.” But everything inside is very tasty. “The meat and skin inside were absolutely delicious,” he recalls.
Delicious rats around the world
Man's love for rodents dates back many centuries ago. According to a scientific study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, rats were eaten in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) and were called "domestic deer." A special dish of the Tang Dynasty was newborn baby rats stuffed with honey. “They are easy to grasp with chopsticks,” the authors report.
Even 200 years ago, the Polynesian rat or Rattus exulans, a close relative of the common domestic rat, it was eaten by many Polynesians, including the New Zealand Maori. "In pre-European times, the South Island of New Zealand was a major source of Polynesian rats, which were preserved and eaten in large quantities, usually at the start of winter," says Jim Williams, a researcher at New Zealand's University of Otago.
This woman sells freshly fried field rats on the side of a highway north of Bangkok, Thailand.
According to the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, the Polynesian rat was considered a delicacy served to guests and was even used as currency exchanged at important ceremonies such as weddings.
Rats are regularly eaten in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Indonesia, Thailand, Ghana, China and Vietnam, says Grant Singleton of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.
Singleton claims he tasted rat meat at least six times in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. And what does it taste like? “As for the field rat, I would say it is a flavorful meat that tastes like rabbit,” he says.
Singleton also mentions the consumption of rats in the upper lands of Laos and the lower delta of Myanmar. He says that in Laos, farmers from the northern upper lands can distinguish at least five species of rodents by their taste.
A man prepares to eat a wild rat caught nearby in Morrumballa, Zambezia Province, Mozambique.
Some African communities have a long tradition of eating rats. In Nigeria, for example, all ethnic groups prefer the African giant rat, says Mojisola Oyarekuah of Ifaki-Ekiti University of Science and Technology in Nigeria. “It is considered a special delicacy and costs more than a piece of fish or beef of the same weight. This meat is delicious in any form - fried, dried or boiled,” he says.
So why do people eat rats? Simple necessity? Having tasted rat meat in different parts of the world, Gates believes that people do this voluntarily rather than being forced by lack of food.
Your favorite neighborhood restaurant may not currently serve rats, but as globalization brings us closer together, increasingly extreme dishes may begin to appear on the menu. Maybe you'd like to try it. After all, for some it is the most delicious meat they have ever eaten.
